The digital battle between Cebu City Vice Mayor Tomas “Tommy” Osmeña and former Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia shows no signs of abating, as their social media accounts remain a hotbed of accusations and counter-accusations.
The latest allegation originates from Osmeña’s persistent allegations that Garcia’s previous administration squandered public funds, leading to the city hall’s financial ruin through “wrong and suspicious” expenditures. Osmeña continues to press Garcia on the whereabouts of the promised P12.1-billion budget surplus, a figure that current Mayor Nestor Archival has yet to corroborate.
Osmeña has never been afraid to use strong language, notably branding Garcia as “Gwen Jr.,” a clear reference to Garcia’s powerful aunt, former Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia. Osmeña sarcastically remarked that if Garcia must resort to untruths, at least “be consistent,” implying a clear political agenda behind Garcia’s actions.
Supporting Osmeña’s claims, Mayor Archival estimates a substantial P6.8-billion budget deficit at City Hall, pointing to alleged corruption during the previous administration’s tenure.
However, Garcia has firmly pushed back. He retaliated by dredging up a past incident from Osmeña’s 2019 defeat to the late Mayor Edgardo Labella, where, according to Garcia, the tiles and even toilet bowls were conspicuously removed from the mayor’s office during Osmeña’s transition. Garcia, in turn, has coined his own unflattering nickname for Osmeña: “VM Pinocchio aka Toilet-Tom.”
Despite his vigorous defense, Garcia has conspicuously failed to provide a clear and direct answer to the allegations of the city hall’s budget deficit.
The consensus among netizens is that the “Osmeña vs. Garcia” social media spectacle is far from over. This ongoing political drama in Cebu City is fueled by the current Archival-Osmeña administration’s ambition to restore the city to its former glory and the fervent efforts of former officials like Garcia and his allies to strongly deny and defend against the accusations of mismanagement leveled against their past leadership of Cebu City.
